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Japanese Verb Groups

Japanese Verb Groupings Romaji style
see also: Verb Forms, Counters: Numbers, Time

One way to approach Japanese verbs is to classify them into three major groupings according to the way they are conjugated when spelled with Roman letters. (This classification method does not apply when they are written in the Japanese syllabary.)

These groups are:

Group 1: The u-dropping conjugation
Group 2: The ru-dropping conjugation
Group 3: The irregular conjugation

Knowing which group a verb belongs to enables one to determine the stem of a verb.

Group 1: The u-dropping conjugation

Most of the verbs in Group 1 are easy to recognise. If the ending of the plain (dictionary) form of a verb is anything but -eru or -iru, the verb belongs to this group, with the exception of suru and kuru . As shown below, to determine the stem, simply drop the final -u ending. The masu forms are then made by attaching -imasu/-imasen to the stem.

MEANING
to have
to take out
to enter
to hurry
to say
to need
to return
to write
to buy
to wait
to paint
to think
to die
to know
to fly
to take
to read

VERB
aru
dasu 1
hairu *
isogu
iu
iru
kaeru *
kaku
kau
matsu
nuru
omou
shinu
shiru *
tobu
toru
yomu

STEM
ar-
dash-
hair-
isog-
i-
ir-
kear-
kak-
ka-
mach-
nur-
omo-
shin-
shir-
tob-
tor-
yom-

MASU FORM
arimasu
dashimasu
hairimasu
isogimasu
iimasu
irimasu
kaerimasu
kakimasu
kaimasu
machimasu
nurimasu
omoimasu
shinimasu
shirimasu
tobimasu
torimasu
yomimasu

MASEN FORM
arimasen
dashimasen
hairimasen
isogimasen
iimasen
irimasen
kearimasen
kakimasen
kaimasen
machimasen
nurimasen
omoimasen
shinimasen
shirimasen
tobimasen
torimasen
yomimasen

1 Verbs ending in -su and -tsu have a sh and ch stem.
* Additions to the Group 1 verbs that have -eru or -iru endings.

If the ending of the verb is either -eru or -iru, one must consult a reference source to determine if it belongs to Group 1 or Group 2. A small percentage of verbs ending in -eru and -iru do belong to Group 1. Confusion may arise when words spelled the same way have different meanings. For example, the word kiru, accenting the ki syllable, means "to cut" and belongs to Group 1; its stem is kir-. On the other hand, the kiru that accents the -ru syllable means "to wear" and belongs to Group 2; its stem is ki-. Similarly, the word kaeru, accenting the ka syllable, means "to return" and belongs to Group 1; its stem is kaer-. Whereas the kaeru that accents the e syllable means "to change" and belongs to Group 2; its stem is kae-. Sometimes there are no pronunciation differences differences, as with iru. While the word iru meaning "to need" belongs to Group 1 (stem ir-), iru meaning "to exist" belongs to Group 2 (stem i-). Both are pronounced the same.

Group 2: The RU-dropping conjugation

Most verbs ending in -eru or -iru belong to this group. The stem is formed by dropping the -ru ending.

MEANING
to raise, give
to be able
to be
to think
to see
to eat

VERB
ageru
dekiru
iru
kangaeru
miru
taberu

STEM
age-
deki-
i-
kangae-
mi-
tabe-

MASU FORM
agemasu
dekimasu
imasu
kangaemasu
mimasu
tabemasu

MASEN FORM
agemasen
dekimasen
imasen
kangaemasen
mimasen
tabemasen

Group 3: The irregular conjugation

This group has only two verbs, kuru "to come" and suru "to do".

MEANING
to come
to do

VERB
kuru
suru

STEM
ku-,ki-
shi-

MASU FORM
kimasu
shimasu

MASEN FORM
kimasen
shimasen

Verb stem + adjuncts

Many adjuncts are attached to the verb stem to alter the verb's original meaning.

  1. isogi-nasai
    Hurry up.

  2. ame ga furi-sou desu
    It looks like it will rain.

  3. watashi wa benkyou shi-tai desu. shigoto wa shi-takunai desu
    I want to study. I don't want to work.